Archive for the ‘Long Island City’ Category
quite convinced
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent financial setbacks and personal problems infect your humble narrator with a form of deep melancholy and a vast ennui. When such moments come upon me, there is a certain pizzeria in Greenpoint (Norman corner of Manhattan, near the train) whose offerings can be summed up best as: an actual and old fashioned “Brooklyn Slice”. On the day I spied this collection of rail cars at the so called “Bliss Tower” in DUGABO, I had scuttled forth from the rolling hillocks of my beloved Astoria in pursuit of one of these aforementioned slices, in an effort designed to brighten my mood.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Errors and omissions mar my record when discussing the Rails, much to the chagrin of the knowledgable railfan community (whose helpful comments and corrections are always appreciated here at Newtown Pentacle). As such, what I can categorically tell you is that this a New York & Atlantic Locomotive, one of the 11 engine units which service the 269 miles of track operated upon by the Glendale based company in Brooklyn, Queens, and both Nassau and Suffolk counties. It shares much of its road with the passenger based Long Island Railroad, and NY&A’s distinctive emerald, white, and black engines are regularly observed around the Newtown Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Across the Newtown Creek Watershed, one encounters a landscape built for rail. Long abandoned track beds lie buried in inches of road asphalt, pointing the way to industrial giants long absent. Train stops orphaned from their purpose, spars and switches which were rudely severed to make room for modernity. All of it operated at street grade, and the remnants of the iron road are often the only tangible remains of great concerns and financial largesse. If you follow the right spar, you’ll discover that the NYPD Barricades unit was once Thypin Steel, or that LaGuardia Community College was once the Loose Wiles bakery and part of the Degnon Terminal.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Within the communities which surround the Newtown Creek, a complaint often repeated concerns the presence of large numbers of trucks utilizing local streets in their quest to move goods from A to B. I had the privilege last year of attending a presentation by certain factions within the Port Authority that described a proposal which would eliminate several thousand truck trips a day throughout the City and over the George Washington Bridge, simply by shipping New York City’s garbage out to land fill utilizing locomotive rather than automotive means. Calculations about air pollution, road maintenance costs, and vehicular accident rates were presented at the time which compared rail quite favorably with truck based shipping.There was a maritime component to the plan as well, which was a bit hazy, but the train concept was spun gold.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The shot above represents an NY&A Locomotive making a drop off of a customer in Maspeth near the ill fated St. Saviour’s church site, where they will uncouple a car or two for the unloading or loading of certain cargo. An unthinkable amount of trucks would be required to carry the same tonnage. The subject of Green Technology and “Greening New York” is often bandied about by many these days. Too much of the conversation, however, is “cocktail party environmentalism”- which sounds great but just isn’t practical on a policy level.
I’ve developed this funny notion, however, that the way forward is actually to re-imagine and re-invent the heaviest industry of them all.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Rail infrastructure is what made Long Island City the factory of not just New York, but the entire world at the turn of the last century and multiple generations of capitalists and real estate interests founded vast fortunes because of the initial investment in it. Newtown Creek was the busiest waterway in North America, carrying more ship and barge traffic than the entire Mississippi for a time, and all of that maritime activity was fed by rail. Intermodal rail floats actually carried whole trains across the harbor to Manhattan, Staten Island, New Jersey and beyond. Imagine the benefits, in both individual wealth and environmental health, were we to try and save the future by looking for solutions in the past.
I’m still kind of forming this idea up for myself, but the key to it is containerization. More on this soon.
What do you, lords and ladies, think on the subject? Use the comments “Reply box” below, if you would like to start a conversation about it.
searing gusts
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That which does not think nor breathe yet instead hungers, a malign intelligence which cannot possibly exist yet nevertheless stares down upon the world of men from the apex of the Megalith, sits upon what can only be called a Hlidskjalf.
Odin had one, a chair set upon the highest peak from which he would dispatch his all seeing ravens- Huginn and Muninn– to spy upon men and report tales of mortal vanity and sin back to his “high seat”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A feverish and singular eye gazes down from its sapphire high seat, its vantage affording it the 53rd highest point of view available in New York City.
Your humble narrator maintains a vast cadre of whistle blowers, neighborhood cranks, idle laborers, low level government workers, and casual informants in the prosecution of this blog. Reports returned from this network who have witnessed the tableau laid before them from atop floors of the Megalith are tantalizing.
One might see the Battery and Hell Gate, Brooklyn’s East River and its Jamaica Bay coastlines, and every bridge to Manhattan for the price of turning ones head from up there- or so I am told.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That behemoth which cannot possibly lurk there, squatting diabolically atop the highest point on Long Island as it searches the land below for rapacious profit, what can it know about the human world it gazes upon? Can it understand individuality, and environment, or does it just see numbers?
Were such an impossibility to exist, would it believe itself to be some sort of god as Odin did- an undying and omnipresent entity served globally by a growing and humorless army of mortal acolytes?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All this is idle speculation, of course?
little memories
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What you’re looking at used to be one of the centers of the world, the Long Island Railroad terminus at 2nd street and Borden Avenue. The original version of the place was built in 1861 and provided egress to Manhattan via an enormous ferry terminal which shuttled commuters back and forth across the East River. This was (and is) the literal “End of the Line”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The station was electrified (WRONG, Sharp Eyed Reader “Kevin” points out that these are diesel trains) along with the rest of the LIRR western spurs, when the tunnels to Manhattan were opened in the early 20th century. The tunnels allowed direct transport to Penn Station, eliminating those delays associated with weather which plagued the ferry service.
Today, excess capacity during the slack time between rush hours can be found idling on the tracks on any given day.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Several versions of the station have been installed here- for instance, a calamitous fire in 1902 destroyed the wooden buildings and train sheds which distinguished the place in the late 19th century. A trip to the acknowledged masters on the subject- the website arrts-arrchives.com is recommended for the curious.
The Boulevard of Bravery
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Word came to me that Jimmy Van Bramer, who is my local City Council representative, was going to conduct a ceremony in Woodside at the firehouse of the Rescue 4 Unit. Designed to honor the members of that storied unit of the FDNY who fell in the line of duty on September 11, the event was scheduled for noon.
I packed up the camera, and accompanied again by the Charismatic Croat, set off for Woodside.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Rescue 4 was hit particularly hard by the attack on 911, and Mr. Van Bramer had gathered several prominent members of the local political establishment and fire unions. Along with family members of the fallen, they came here to designate this corner of Queens Blvd., where Rescue 4 (and Engine 292) is housed, as “The Boulevard of Bravery”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A subject I normally won’t touch with a ten foot pole, September 11th is the stuff of history now, ready for postmodern interpretation and analogy. Future scholars will build careers upon the topic, discussing its ramifications and debating deeper meanings.
Ten years, from a historical point of view, is nothing.
It’s 2051 at the earliest that the subject will be able to be discussed apolitically, and probably much further into the future.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The turnout for the event was massive, with several retired firefighters and a coterie of political stars, as well as an enormous mainstream media presence- which is rare in Queens. Also in attendance were the Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Corps of the FDNY. In the audience were several people who had lost a loved one in Manhattan, ten years prior, family and friends alike.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Then, of course, there were the Firemen.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned in previous posts, despite my advancing age and infirmities, it still takes a great deal of effort for me not to chase after a speeding fire truck yelling “firemen, firemen” in the same manner as I did as a small child.
Ten years ago, it was custom to break into spontaneous applause when a fire unit passed by, and few if any FDNY personnel had to pay for their own drinks at any saloon where their affiliation was known.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After unveiling the street sign mounted on a post above Queens Blvd. along with family members of those lost from the Rescue 4 detail on September 11th, Mr Van Bramer presented the unit Captain with a duplicate sign, presumably for display within the firehouse.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Then the Drums sang out and the Pipers began to roar, and the Emerald Society performed the hymnal “Amazing Grace”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The admonition offered by the attendant clergy (and by a few of the politicians), who led a spiritual moment of prayer for the deceased, was to perform some sort of good deed today.Render some sort of good natured action for another, which would honor the occasion, and which was referred to as a national day of service.
frenzied throng
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As you may have noticed from the little flickr badge on the right hand side of this page, it’s been a rather busy few days for your humble narrator. The Working Harbor Committee Tugboat races were a hoot, as always, but I’ve had to develop and deliver the shots in a somewhat timely manner- despite the annoyance of a computer system crash and a concurrent setback in my overall schedule.
Such is life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Some extremely exciting stuff is on the front burner right now, and October is looking to be another incredibly busy month. I can’t discuss any of it yet, but there will be several intriguing “events” which will be described to you in some detail in the coming weeks that I’m involved with.
Suffice to say- “Want to see something cool? Come with me, bring a camera and ID”.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
What does all this shadowy discussion and veiled promise have to do with shots of speedy trains and hidden trackbeds? Nothing at all, but this is a visual metaphor for what it feels like to be me at the moment.
A deer in the headlights, with a juggernaut hurtling ever closer.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just in case you were wondering- the trains are Metro North at Spuyten Duyvel, LIRR at Woodside and then DUPBO near Hunters Point, and Amtrak at Sunnyside Yards.
Catching up on the latest round of research, getting the next series of postings together, getting back on track. Expect regular but rather short posts for the next few days as I pull together the next session of this, your Newtown Pentacle.
The Newtown Pentacle 